In It Together: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Distress Among Older Adults With Sensory Loss and Their Spouses

NCT04781608 | Completed

• 3 other identifiers: VELUX 223611779339504-0225/20-5000
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 662
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Impairments in hearing and/or vision are common in older age. Having lived one's life as a fully sighted and hearing individual, older adults with sensory loss must come to terms with their declining capacity to interact with others and waning independence. There is ample research evidence showing that sensory loss (i.e., loss of hearing, vision or both) can be a distressful experience for older adults and their spouses, yet little has been done to understand what works in alleviating this distress or develop scalable cost-effective interventions to counter this distress or associated outcomes like depression, anxiety, poor quality of life, and lower relationship quality. In this project, the investigators will design and test an easy-to-administer, online intervention aimed at reducing emotional and marital distress in older adults with sensory loss and their spouses. The goal of the intervention will be to develop acceptance of the sensory loss through a series of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy inspired educational, self-compassion, and therapeutic activities. In prior research, acceptance has been flagged as a promising factor on which to intervene to assist older couples' emotional and marital recovery in the context of sensory loss. Thus, the investigators expect that the intervention should show encouraging results regarding the alleviation of distress in this group and contribute significantly to the psychosocial rehabilitation of older adults with sensory loss and their spouses.

Conditions

Sensory Loss (Impairment of Sight and/or Hearing)

Keywords

Sensory loss; Hearing impairment; Sight impairment; Elderly couples; Age 60 or older; Online; Digital; Intervention; Acceptance and Commitment therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• WHO-5 well-being

  5-item measure of general well-being (Bech, 1999, 2012)

  Within the last 2 weeks

• Couple Satisfaction Index

  4-item measure of satisfaction with one's romantic relationship (Funk \& Rogge, 2007)

  Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks

• Depression

  9-item measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer, \& Williams, 2001; Kroenke \& Spitzer, 2002)

  Within the last 2 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Psychological flexibility

  Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks

• Communication

  Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

Gains access to the digital intervention program

Behavioral: English: In It Together (IIT)

Wait-list- control group

NO INTERVENTION

Does not gain access to the intervention (until end of study)

Interventions

English: In It Together (IIT) BEHAVIORAL

Digital intervention program that consists of 4 modules, to be completed 1 week apart. The modules consist of psychoeducation, as well as acceptance and commitment therapy-inspired activities.

Also known as: Danish: Sammen on Sansetab (SOS)

Intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Be 60 years of age or older
• Be able to read and write in Danish
• Be in a romantic relationship of at least 1 year
• Live together with the partner (share housing)
• Feel either one self or one's partner has a sensory loss (hearing and/or sight) that affects day-to-day life. This sensory loss does not need to be confirmed by a health care provider.

You may not qualify if:

• Less than 60 years of age
• Cannot read or write in Danish
• Not in a romantic relationship
• Relationship length of less than 1 year
• Not living together with the partner (not share housing)
• Currently receiving psychological help (therapy/intervention)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Copenhagen: lead
• Velux Fonden: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Copenhagen

Copenhagen, 1014, Denmark

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hearing Loss

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hearing Disorders; Ear Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Sensation Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Camilla S Øverup, PhD

  University of Copenhagen

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Gert Martin Hald, PhD

  University of Copenhagen

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Postdoc

Model Details: Participants will be randomized to one of two conditions: 1) Intervention group, which will receive access to the digital intervention program, and 2) Control group, who will not receive immediate acess to the digital intervention program. Intervention group: Participants will be asked to complete survey measures at baseline (prior to access to the 4-module digital intervention program), 6-weeks, 10 weeks, and 18 weeks. Control group: Participants will be asked to complete survey measures at baseline , 6-weeks, and 10 weeks (control group participants gain access to the digital intervention program after completion of the 10-week survey).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 18, 2021
• First Posted: March 4, 2021
• Study Start: November 22, 2021
• Primary Completion: May 16, 2022
• Study Completion: June 30, 2022
• Last Updated: November 4, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: The data will be shared after June 30th, 2022.

Locations

DK (1)